Main:Mai Murakami
Tokyo, Japan |Row 3 title = Years on National Team |Row 3 info = 2009-present |Row 4 title = Club |Row 4 info = Nippon Sports Science University; Yukio Iketani Gymnastics Club (former) |Row 5 title = Coach(es) |Row 5 info = Kazukuni Ohno |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Active}}Mai Murakami (Japanese: 村上麻衣, born August 5, 1996) is a Japanese gymnast and 2016 Olympian. She is the 2017 World Floor Exercise Champion, a first for Japanese women, 2018 World all-around silver medalist, and three-time Japanese National All-Around Champion (2016, 2017, and 2018). She has become a fan favorite for her high difficulty and innovative routines. She is one of the few gymnasts capable of performing a quadruple spin on beam, a triple-twisting double back, and a double twisting double layout on floor.2/1 DLO Junior Career Murakami's international debut came at the 2009 Japan Junior International. She did not place in the all-around because the "two-per-country" rule was in place, but won silver on floor exercise. She placed tenth in the all-around at the Japanese Nationals in 2010, and won team bronze and placed eleventh in the all-around at the City of Jesolo Trophy. Senior Career 2012 In her first Japanese Nationals competing as a senior, she placed eleventh in the all-around. With stronger performances from her teammates, she was left off the Japanese Olympic team. 2013 In February 2013, she was named to the Japanese team for the City of Jesolo Trophy. In Jesolo, she won bronze with the Japanese team and placed 22nd in the all-around. She won bronze in the all-around at the Japanese Nationals in May and NHK Cup in June. At the end of June, she was announced as a member of the Japanese team for the World Championships. In qualifications, Murakami competed in the second subdivision. She qualified fifth to the floor exercise final. She performed second in the final. She had a very nice routine and scored 14.466. She placed fourth. In December, she won silver on vault at the Toyota International. 2014 Murakami competed at the Pacific Rim Championships in April, placing fourth with her team, sixth on floor, seventh on bars and beam, and ninth in the all-around. In May, she placed sixth in the all-around at the Japanese Nationals, and went on to placed fourth at the NHK Cup. At the Japanese Individual Nationals in July, she won gold on floor and silver on vault. She was then named to the Japanese team for the World Championships in Nanning, China.Worlds In Nanning, she fell on floor exercise and didn't make the event finals, but performed better in the team final and helped Japan place eighth. After Nanning, she competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial in Chiasso, Switzerland, but didn't have her best competition and placed tenth. She competed at the Swiss Cup Zurich a few days later, but did not make the finals. In December, she placed fifth in the all-around at the Glasgow World Cup. She wrapped up the year by winning vault and floor at the Toyota International. 2015 In late April, she competed at the Japanese National Championships. She had some trouble on floor exercise, sustaining an injury, and placed tenth in the all-around. She recovered in time to place eighth at the NHK Cup in May. She had a better competition at the Individual Nationals in June, winning floor exercise gold and vault bronze, but was only named an alternate the World Championship team. After an injury to a teammate, Murakami took her place at the World Championships, outperforming the rest of the team while in Glasgow. She helped the Japanese to fifth place, their highest placing in a team final, and placed sixth in the all-around. 2016 Murakami started off the season at the American Cup in New Jersey, but a fall on balance beam landed her in sixth place. In early April, she claimed the all-around title at the Japanese National Championships. She went on to win all-around silver at the NHK Cup in May. At the Japanese Individual National Championships, she won gold on floor exercise and placed fourth on uneven bars. She was promptly named to the Japanese Olympic team.Olympics Rio Olympics Japan competed in the last subdivision of qualifications, starting on floor exercise. She helped Japan qualified seventh into the team final, and qualified ninth into the all-around and eighth on floor exercise. The Japanese greatly improved their performance in the team final, finishing in fourth. Murakami placed fourteenth in the all-around and seventh on floor exercise. 2017 Murakami started off the season by defending her all-around title at the Japanese National Championships in April. She then went on to win the all-around at the 2017 NHK Trophy, securing her and second-place gymnast Aiko Sugihara spots on the 2017 World Championship team. At the Japanese Individual National Championships, winning silver on floor and placing fifth on vault. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada. She impressively qualified first to the all-around, and additionally qualified to beam and floor finals. In the all-around, she fell on balance beam but rebounded with an upgraded routine on floor, hoping she could sneak into the medals. Ultimately, she fell a tenth short of medaling and finished fourth. She also finished fourth in beam finals, but won the gold on floor exercise, the first Japanese woman to do so. In December, she won gold on floor and bronze on vault at the Toyota International. 2018 In early March, Murakami competed at the American Cup, taking second in the all-around, and went on to win the all-around at the Tokyo World Cup in April. She also defended her Japanese National All-Around title afterwards and also won the NHK Cup. At the Japanese Individual National Championships in late June, she won gold on balance beam and floor exercise. She was named to the Japanese team for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in late October. She helped Japan to a sixth place finish in the team final, won silver in the all-around, the highest all-around placing for a Japanese gymnast, and bronze on floor exercise. 2019 Murakami returned to the American Cup in March and was a favorite for the title. She performed well on her first two events, but fell on balance beam on a new triple wolf turn. She bounced back with a strong floor exercise routine and tied for third place with Canada's Ellie Black. At the Japanese National Championships in late April, uncharacteristic mistakes prevented her from defending her national title. She won silver behind Asuka Teramoto. After missing the NHK Cup due to back pain, she won gold on vault at the Japanese Individual National Championships, but was still left off of Japan's World Championships team. Medal Count Floor Music 2012-2013 - "Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix)"/ "Cherry Blossoms In Winter" by the Yoshida Brothers 2014-2015 - "This Society, They've Opened Pandora's Box" by Jonny/ "Self Repair" by Adan Bonilla Morales 2017-2018 - “Field of Fusion” by DAITA References